Mystery3
by Xule
Summary: Zuko's link with A'Ohni brings out the better in him. [REVIEWS PLEASE]


V

A'Ohni was turning something over in her hands when Zuko shuffled sorely through the door, supported by Iroh and flanked by two guards. She cupped her hands over whatever it was and rose from the floor somewhat wearily, leaning heavily on both the bed and her cane, chest heaving up and down in huge gulps of air. There were dark rings under her bloodshot eyes and her hair was in disarray.

"What are you up to?" Zuko demanded.

"Nothing.

"What is in your hand?"

"Nothing."

At a silent command from Zuko, one of the guards seized A'Ohni and prised her hand open. A round white stone, about the size of an egg, fell to the floor.

"I _told _you it was nothing." She grumbled, half to herself.

Iroh bent down and scooped the stone up; it was surprisingly heavy. It was covered in holes like those of Swiss cheese, and had a silvery sheen, given off my tiny grains of mineral that covered a large quantity of its surface area.

"Where did you get this?" He asked, testing its mass in his hand. "It is unlike any rock I have ever seen."

A'Ohni hesitated.

"Bear in mind," Said Zuko. "That if you say that you do not give us a straight answer, you will be thrown overboard."

A'Ohni frowned in thought and then smiled at him.

"Very well then, it was in the other stone." She answered. "The large green one. The bigger was made to protect this stone. It is very fragile."

"There was no other stone in the green one." Zuko said.

"I am not lying."

"I believe you." Zuko could not convey to her how much he really did; he was in her mind now, just as much as she was in his. He _knew_ she was not lying.

"This stone was under the bed when I found it." She said. "I assume it rolled under there when the other cracked open."

Iroh raised his head from the white stone and said; "We never told you that it cracked open. How did you know that?"

A'Ohni swallowed hard, she had let her tongue slip.

Zuko advanced on her as best he could in his weakened state. "How did you know?"

"I - I was expecting it to." She answered, this was it, truth revealed.

"Why? What was in it? What was that light that went into you?" Iroh demanded.

"Well…I can't explain how I knew what was going to happen." She licked her lips and backed away from them. "But…It was energy, power, pure power. My power."

Zuko's eyes narrowed. "What kind of power? You said before that the stone was your 'inheritance' before, why is that?"

A'Ohni shook her head and backed away further, they were getting far too close. She felt her heart skip a beat when she bumped against the edge of the bed, unable to go any further.

"Don't make me answer that, please." She begged.

They continued to advance, repeating the same questions; "Why? What? How?" but A'Ohni barely heard them. She was panicking, they were too close to her, and she was getting light-headed…

Zuko and Iroh got quite a shock when she crumpled to the ground.

Whatever she was dreaming about, it was upsetting her. Zuko could sense that even from the upper deck. Flashes of her dreams flickered in and out of his mind; a wasteland, inhabited by spirits, a dead tree, the ghost from the temple rocking a baby in her arms and singing a lullaby in the shelter of its branches.

Zuko jumped as a feeling jumped across their link and into him. It was cold and unpleasant, squeezing and tugging and his heart, sucking out every scrap of happiness. It was pure sorrow, accompanied by another feeling, one he was familiar with; utter loneliness.

She was crying. Zuko heard it as soundly as a bell. As she watched the ghost, sobs shook her sleeping form; tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked the pillow. _A'Ohni._ Zuko whispered across the link, and dashed below deck.

A'Ohni awoke when Zuko lifted her. He cradled her in his arms and sat down on the bed, her legs draped over his and her head buried into his chest. She clutched at him and wept. _Zuko._

_Shush. _He said. _Don't cry; please don't cry. It was just a dream._

"No!" She protested aloud. _It wasn't just a dream. It is how things should be. She left me, Zuko she died and left me in the dark. I should have gone with her._

_Who? That woman? _He asked. _Who was she?_

_She was my mother._

_She died when you were a baby? _

_No._ A'Ohni shared her anger with him, partially directed it at him._ She was murdered. By Fire Nation soldiers._

_Oh. _Zuko felt the tension envelop him. _I'm sorry._

_I was not even born yet._ She continued, sensing his confusion, she continued. _She was almost full-term when she was killed. I was cut from her and placed in the tank. My power was transferred to that stone for when I awoke._

_Why were you left in it so long? _He asked. _From what I saw, you were not much younger than you are now when you came out of the tank._

_They wanted to protect me. _A'Ohni explained. _They knew that if I were to be discovered, I would be killed to._

_Why was your mother killed?_

_She was a Bender. _

A heavy silence followed this. Zuko pushed A'Ohni away gently; she had stopped crying. He scowled.

_A Bender? _He repeated.

"Yes." She vocalised.

_What element? _

A'Ohni chuckled to herself. _You would not believe me. My race has long since been forgotten._

_Tell me. _He turned her face to his. _I will believe you, I will not tell neither my father nor my uncle…I will _not _betray you._

She sighed. _Lightning._

_Lightning?_

_Yes, Lightning Benders._ She looked at him. _I am not surprised that you have never heard of us. We were almost extinct even before the War. Our own fault, really, we refused to move even when our land became completely barren. My mother was one of the last of our kind. Now I am the very last one._

_How do you know this? _Zuko asked.

_When I emerged from the tank, I spent a long time in the temple, in the library, mostly, reading._ She answered.

_Where did you learn to read?_

_I honestly don't know._

_Did the Fire Nation know what your people were?_

_I assume so, they were the ones that sacked the temple and defaced the artwork. _She said._ They came back to do that. That was why I left. They also took the stone._

Iroh's voice drifted down the corridor, summoning Zuko to join him for dinner. He rose reluctantly. A'Ohni took his hand and placed the white stone into it. He smiled, a rare and heart-warming sight. She smiled back, and he left.

VI

They docked at a small port the next day, so that Iroh could get the books he had been robbed of when they met A'Ohni. A'Ohni had been excused of her crimes thanks to Zuko. Had said that thievery was not a crime worthy of prison and that he was sure the 'electrocution incident' had not really been her fault. She had been made listen to an entire speech from him as he tried to convince Iroh, who eventually agreed that the days she had spent confined to her quarters had been sufficient punishment.

Zuko and A'Ohni were standing at the prow of the ship when Zuko said something completely unexpected: "You were right."

_What?_ A'Ohni replied.

_Remember when you said that the Fire Nation were thieves? _He said, turning to her._ When you said that no-one is better than anyone else?_

_Yes._

_You were right._

_I am glad you have finally acknowledged that._ She stated proudly.

_I want to put things right._ Zuko claimed._ To put an end to my father's tyranny. I don't want to hinder the Avatar any longer; I want to help him._

A'Ohni smiled. "You have changed."

"If not for you I would still be the same self-centred brat." He told her. "You have re-awoken my conscience."

She nodded. "We should go to the Avatar."

Zuko's grateful smile showed that that idea had not occurred to him. "Yes! We could offer our aid."

"Yes."

Zuko slumped over the rail. "But we don't know where he is."

"I do."

"Where is he?"

A'Ohni pointed to three children squabbling by a fruit stall. Beside them, a white lemur was helping himself to some melons. "Right over there."

Zuko was not waiting outside his uncle's cabin long before A'Ohni came out. Her grin indicated that her success had been at the expense of his reputation.

"He did not mind us going off alone?" He asked.

"No."

"What did you tell him?"

To his horror her grin broadened. "Never you mind."

Concluding that he was better off not knowing, Zuko followed her as she winded her way through the sprawling town toward a dense deciduous wood, following the Avatar's tracks.

They had not gone far before A'Ohni swore and dropped to her knees. Zuko peered over her shoulder as she examined the ground.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I seem to have lost the trail." She replied.

"_What?_"

"No panic, I promise I'll find it again."

"And if you don't?"

"Then you may panic."

Zuko growled and kicked a tree trunk. The slender beech swayed back and forth, unseating its occupant. Who happened to be one of the Avatar's friends.

"Sokka!" A girl's voice cried from the branches of a tall oak. Zuko and A'Ohni looked up to see her descending hurriedly from her perch.

The boy sat up groggily. Seeing Zuko and A'Ohni, he leapt to his feet, unsheathing two axe-like weapons. A'Ohni laughed.

"Katara, stay away!" He called up to his sister. "It's Zuko!"

Katara glanced at the two; Zuko looked up and met her gaze. She gasped and began to descend hastily.

"I said stay away!" Sokka cried.

"I heard you." Katara replied, dropping to the ground. "But there is no chance of you taking on two people on your own. You _need_ my help."

"I don't need any help from a _girl._" Sokka shot back.

He said this without noticing A'Ohni, who kicked him in the back of the leg for such a comment. Sokka swore and faced her. Zuko and Katara laughed.

Sokka made an angry thrust at A'Ohni. Zuko caught his arm and threw him to the ground. Sokka swore again, picked himself up and called "Aang! It's Zuko! Aang!" into the forest. Katara's voice joined and the forest filled with their cries of distress.

A'Ohni struck Katara across the face. "Shut up! We're not here to cause trouble."

Sokka's cries were muffled as Zuko clapped a hand over his mouth. A'Ohni did likewise with Katara. They backed against each other and stood, waiting.

Minutes passed and Zuko grew more and more impatient.

"Where is the Avatar?" He growled.

"Patience, Zuko." A'Ohni muttered, eyeing the surrounding branches.

"You sound like my uncle." He snapped. "He _always_ says that."

"I have heard him." She replied. "But has the thought ever occurred to you that perhaps if you _listened_ once in a while, he wouldn't have to say it as much."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I wasn't, I was just giving you some advice."

A rustle in the trees nearby caught their attention. A small glider could be seen heading in their direction. Zuko shuffled uneasily. Sokka and Katara began to struggle again, with increased vigour.

_He's coming straight for us_. Zuko hissed nervously. _Do think he's seen us?_

_I do not know_. A'Ohni replied. _Stay calm, and keep a tight hold on him. We cannot afford for him to be alerted now._

_I know, I am._

"Shush, shush." A'Ohni whispered to Katara, who was screaming as loud as she could and biting at her had in an frantic effort to warn her friend. "We mean no harm, we just wish to speak." Katara laughed.

A jet of air narrowly missed knocking Sokka from Zuko's grasp. _He's seen us._ Said Zuko.

"Avatar!" A'Ohni called up into the trees. The glider could be seen a way off, abandoned in the branches of a horse chestnut.

"Avatar!" Zuko called. "Peace!"

"We mean no danger!" A'Ohni shouted. "We come to bear counsel! We have an offer to present."

A young boy landed soundlessly to her left. He approached with caution.

"What do you want?" His voice was calm.

"To talk." Zuko answered. "You can scour the forest, you will find no soldiers. Our intentions are sincere."

"I already have." Aang replied. "You're right."

"So can we talk?" A'Ohni requested. "They we be looking for us before long."

"Alright then. But we'll have to find a better spot." The Avatar began to walk westward, deeper into the forest. "Follow me."

A'Ohni and Zuko released their captives and hurried after him up a gentle slope.

Aang led them to their camp, where Momo, the white lemur, was snapping at fireflies from the back of Oppa, the flying bison. The sun had set as they walked, the crescent moon was climbing, and now the forest was alive with the phantoms of the night. A wolf howled in the distance.

At the edge of the camp, Zuko halted abruptly. A'Ohni turned and saw him glancing around uncertainly.

_What is it? _She asked.

_I don't know about this. _He replied. _What can we possibly do to help?_

_We went through this._ She said, quite firmly.

He threw his arms up helplessly. _Yes, but all the help we can offer is peasants and rumours._

_That's all he needs._

_What can such things do against the Fire Nation?_

_A great deal. If we encourage the whole world to take a stand, the Fire Nation will be overwhelmed._

_But millions will be lost! _Zuko's eyes widened and he shook his head.

_It will be nothing compared to those whole will die under such tyranny. _A'Ohni placed her hands on his shoulder. _You're doing the right thing. You're working for the greater good._

Zuko nodded. He glanced over at the others; they were watching them impatiently. Deciding they could wait a moment longer, he cupped A'Ohni's face in his hands and kissed her quickly. When he pulled away, her face mirrored his own shock at what he had done, but he saw no disapproval in it. Proud of himself, he took her hand and led her over to the others.

There was no love in their conversation. Neither group trusted the other in the slightest, which was to be expected. Conversation was formal, and laced with contempt on some subjects.

Zuko promised that, while he could not join the Avatar, for obvious reasons, he and A'Ohni would help to hinder the Fire Nation in their search. They would distribute misleading information, lead them into traps, and commit minor sabotage, as well as spread disdain and confidence throughout the peasants, in hopes of starting a revolt.

"So long as the chances of getting caught are minimal, you have my cooperation." Zuko vowed.

"Mine also." A'Ohni added.

Aang shifted uneasily where he sat. Momo crawled into A'Ohni's lap; she scratched his ear absent-mindedly.

"No matter what we do, the Fire Nation is still extremely powerful." He said. "We can mess up their plans as much as we want, but they still have a well-structured chain of command. They will regain their authority easily."

"So break the chain!" Sokka said.

"But everyone in the chain is replaceable. Except…" Aang looked at Zuko.

"Except for the Fire Lord." Zuko finished.

"Yes." Aang replied, sounding guilty for bringing the fact to light. "If we want to break the chain, we would have to overthrow the Fire Lord, or get him to stop what he's doing. It's the only way."

"My father will never stop." Zuko said, shaking his head. "And he will never allow himself to be taken alive…"

The realisation hit Zuko at this point and his eyes widened in horror. He looked to A'Ohni, wanting her to say no, they would not have to do that. All he got was a look of pity. He buried his face in his hands. "Oh, no."

"Zuko…" A'Ohni laid her hand on his trembling shoulder. He shrugged it off.

"Leave me alone."

_Zuko please. _She transmitted waves of comfort, which he blocked. They were answered with waves of anger, sorrow, fear, love, and all the emotions that were now eating at him.

_You knew._ He accused. _You knew it would come to this. Don't deny it!_

_I had an inkling. _She responded, as calmly as she could.

Zuko leapt up and stormed away, throwing his hands out angrily and releasing jets of fire. He looked at them, saw the pity in their faces, and dashed away into the forest, ashamed.

"Zuko!" A'Ohni cried. "Zuko, come back."

She stood, unseating Momo. With an apologetic look to the others, she sprinted after him.

A'Ohni followed Zuko's tracks westward into the forest. The ground became marshy as the land created a bowl, in which the water from small streams lost momentum and soaked into the soil. She fell many times, and before long was soaked to the bone and caked in mud. Still she struggled on.

When she found him, he was seated on one of the mammoth roots of an ancient willow. She would have missed him, had he not stirred, the branches of the magnificent plant had drooped as far as the ground over the years, and he was behind a long curtain of thick foliage.

He was crying, and did not resist when A'Ohni pulled him into her arms. He was just as filthy as she was, so it made no difference to the state of his clothes.

There was no reason for either of them to speak. The link had made all of his feelings clear. He loved his father, and of course he did not want him dead, that went without saying. But the link also revealed other aspects of his thought. One was the fuel that had kept Zuko going during his search for the Avatar, and that was the urge to please his father. There was nothing selfish in his motives, for years he had lived with the guilt of letting his father down with his outburst in front of the elders, when he had disgraced his father. He had taken up the task, wanting to earn his father's approval. Now he was betraying him, and he knew that his father would never forgive him for that.

_Zuko, no matter what happens, he is still your father._ A'Ohni said. _He loves you still, though he may be disappointed in you, that will never change. I am not asking you to kill him, or approve of his murder, that would be cruel. What I am asking you to do, is to stop punishing yourself, and to accept what must be done for the good of the world._

Zuko stood up and gazed out into the marsh, in the distance, the rumble of Fire Nation rhinos and the shouts of soldiers could be heard, his men were looking for him. He sighed and looked at her. "I know; I will try. But it will take a while."

_I will wait. _She stood at his side.

She took his face in his hands and kissed him. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer. Just as the kiss began to deepen, the flickering light of a torch fell on them. The willow's branches rustled as they were pushed aside.

"Prince Zuko there you…" Iroh stopped, catching them just as they were pulling away. He folded his arms and grinned at them. They looked at each other and laughed.

A'Ohni awoke in the middle of the night. Zuko was having a nightmare. She caught flashes of a bloody throne room; Fire Lord Orai sprawled on the carpet, hewn down as he ran. She sprang from her bed and hurried down the corridor. He was thrashing silently in his bed. She shook him awake and comforted him. He moved over in the bed and she crawled in beside him. He kissed her.

_Thank you._ He said.

_You're welcome. _She replied, smiling.

_A'Ohni? _

_Yes?_

_You won't leave me, will you?_

_No._

_Promise? _

_I promise._ She curled against his chest. He put his arms around her. _…Zuko?_

_Yes?_

_I love you._

He smiled._ I love you, too._

THE END


End file.
